Builder Trends in the Real Estate Market

Southern Ocean County and Builder Trends in the Real Estate Market

Building a new home is a great investment in the Southern Ocean County real estate market when the building site is purchased correctly and the construction costs are fair. Building a new home offers a buyer in the local real estate markets of Stafford Township, Barnegat, Little Egg Harbor, Waretown and Long Beach Island some of the best returns in the market. New construction also is an excellent gauge of the real estate market so it is helpful to look at national trends for some guidance on investing in the Southern Ocean County real estate market.

Builder Trends in the Real Estate Market

As more builders face labor shortages, they’re starting to look for new and faster ways to train more workers. For example, the Colorado Homebuilding Academy, a nonprofit organization, opened this year to offer a free eight-week “boot camp” to help increase the builder labor force. The course is founded and funded by Oakwood Homes, a homebuilder based in Denver that is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. “Every single year, the labor situation has basically gotten worse,” Patrick Hamill, CEO of Oakwood, told CNBC. “People retire, and there’s nobody to replace them, and as an industry, ultimately we’ve just done a lousy job marketing our opportunities to young people.” The construction labor shortage is worsening nationwide and it’s causing the new-home sector to be unable to keep up with buyer demand. Homebuilders blame growing costs and a shortage of labor as the two biggest challenges confronting them this year, according to surveys conducted by the National Association of Home Builders. During the housing crash, many builders left the industry and have never returned. Also, an aging workforce approaching retirement age and a lack of young people drawn to the building industry are making the situation worse, builders say.